The One That Got Away
by Plutron
Summary: Note to self: Never accept gifts from strangers who can do things normal people can't. Even if you would except it out of fear for your life." Inter-dimensional travel is only the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**The One That Got Away**

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or anything pertaining to it.

**Chapter 1: Elegua**

A young woman walked down the street toward her house after walk around her neighborhood. The wind bit at her cheeks and she knew she shouldn't go around the block again; yet as she approached her house she found herself walking past it. Her eyes sparkled with a watery light and her shoulders were sagging. She looked down at the ground as she walked and her feet brushing against the pavement as she didn't lift her feet high enough.

Further up from where she was at the moment was a man. His skin was pale and sickly covered by a black trench coat that would give one the idea that he might flash someone. His ice blue veins stuck out of his skin and pulsed all over his body and a tattoo of a snake coiled up his neck to his bald head. From blue to red his eyes flickered as the woman came closer to him with each step she took.

He had been watching her for years now. The reason for which sat in his left pocket waiting to be handed over and then the fun would begin. Over the years he had done this exchange many times with different outcomes and he was always satisfied so long as whatever happened was interesting to watch. Getting his victims soul would only be icing on the cake. While he occasionally did men he found that women were extremely more imaginative with how they chose to go about things once they figured out what was going on. With a man, while he always got the soul, they were more interested in a good fuck then giving a good show.

This year he had three women he was giving his gift to. The others had already received theirs and they had been his book girls. This time however he had wanted to try something a little different. He had never chosen girl who would go after "those" of the "Visual Medias" because people would catch on to what he was doing. For that reason he only paid attention to the written word. It was completely by chance that he came across anime. Now normally cartoons are kidish without any real continuity or framework leaving his work in it shoty at best. Anime, though not all of it, he found had quite a bit more meat to it and would work well with how he did things. After all a cartoon made into flesh and blood ended up looking quite different from their colored counter-part.

He hadn't really tried it yet though and was excited about the concept. He had done extensive research on the fans of various anime and studied what they felt a normal reaction to meeting their favorite character would be. Now most of his research was based on fanfics so not the best place to get view points. Fanfic were mostly fantasies. Some well written and other were… amusing. Now with what he planned to do those fantasies might not be far off for some lucky girl.

Yet the truth was if the anime characters had been real and one of those girls was to meet them it would end being a little more like hello goodbye. After all, most humans are not that interesting when it really comes down to it and the world doesn't go out of its way to make miracle meetings happen.

The reason this girl had been chosen was because of her interest in this exact type of scenario. She had thought of the complications more then the fun parts and seemed truly interested in how things would really go down. True he would be giving her a situation that was a little more story oriented or less likely to happen without obvious outside influence, which he would technically be, but she would take this more seriously… if she didn't freak-out. Freaking out happens a lot actually, even when the person believed him. As a whole though this girl was like every other girl.

You readers out there would do best to remember that. She is a normal girl who does normal things and the only reason this is about to happen to her is chance. Then again the line between chance and fate is very superficial for who can't say that something was fate after the fact.

When the girl was in front of his position the man jumped out of the shadows causing the girl to come to a halt and take a few steps back. Her eyes widened at his sudden appearance and she had a look that said she would bolt in a second if he didn't stop her. So he smiled at her, in what he hoped would be disarming, and his smile revealed his rotting and pointed teeth. He forgot about that. She was now running less then gracefully though, to her credit, the speed was as if death was snapping at her heals. She was at her door by the time he realized she had run away but that wouldn't do her much good.

In hindsight he realized he probably should have pretended to be a jogger or walker. That way he could have approached her with a silly question about time or something. Well there was not much he could do about it now but it was a good thing to remember for next time. In a flash of purple light he was near her again and instead of trying to talk he grabbed a hold of her and teleported in another flash of purple light.

When the two of them reappeared they were inside of a school gymnasium with the girl conveniently tied to a chair and gagged. The man smiled at the girl again and was happy to note her shivering form.

She was afraid.

He liked it when people were afraid of him. He watched as her eyes scanned the room and wondered what was going through her mind. Was she looking for a way to escape, people to help, or just too plainly see where he had taken her. On another note she didn't seem to be pulling on the ropes that tied her to the chair. If this was because she hadn't thought of it yet or just wanted to play nice with her captor… again he was at a loss.

"Hello, my name is Elegua." He bowed to the girl, who was only now starting to struggle against the ropes that bound her. He was pleased to note though that she had a curious look to her that indicated that, though still scared, she would listen.

"I am something of a magician who finds great enjoyment out of granting others wishes of a specific kind. I can, within reason, bring anyone from one world to another. I prefer, of course, to bring people here." He watched her carefully and almost giggled when he saw the great interest gleam in her eyes at what he said, yet he also couldn't miss the growing caution in her eyes as well. She might be a little harder to convince then he originally thought, after all this had to be her choice he couldn't force her.

"Now normally I'd let you chose who you want me to bring here but I have someone I have been itching to get over here. I think you'll like my choice all the same. That is one of the reasons I chose you. So will you take up my offer?" He spun around and looked at the girl hopefully while clasping his hands together. The girl backed up a little in her chair and raised and eye-brow at him. She probably thought he was a little (cough a lot cough) insane. He smiled bigger and did nothing to discourage that thought from her mind. Slowly she thought it over while looking around the empty gym and finally, after a few long minutes, nodded. He could tell from the look on her face she thought it was a condition to her freedom and again he did nothing to correct her. Normally he would as it was one of the rules for his game that the victim have every opportunity to back out before the deal was sealed. However he really wanted to use this girl. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing special about her and he was sure he could find another just like her but he was anxious to start.

"Good, good. Now if you kindly don't scream I will remove the gag and we can discuss the particulars of your contract." Again it took awhile but she slowly nodded at him and he removed the gage a moment later watching her carefully all the while. She rotated her jaw a little and opened and closed her mouth. Then she took a beep breath and looked at Elegua. She held that breathe for a good minute before sagging her shoulder and letting it out with a squeak.

Smart girl.

"There's a good girl." He smiled at her obvious defeat and out of a purple flash he pulled a quill and parchment.

"Now this type of contract is called the SHI RIKISTU. I use it for all my legal needs." He smiled at his small joke before continuing.

"What this contract says is that you… ah… what's your name… your full name?" He paused in his writing to look at the girl and waited for her to respond. If he hadn't been so happy with her compliance he would have been annoyed with how long it took her to respond to each of his questions. Slowly she opened her mouth and he had to lean in to hear her quite response.

"A-amanda Kristina Anderson." He didn't have to ask for spelling as the pen would know immediately now that she said it. He smiled though at the name. Amanda meant 'worthy of love' and he found it rather ironic.

"It says that 'you, Amanda Kristina Anderson, will receive one GISHTIL or vehicle of life. With this life she must form a mutual bond of 'happiness' by the time of her 18th birthday. If not then her SHI will be taken in punishment.' So as you see it is all rather simple." He looked at Amanda and watched as she crinkled her eyes in thought. Then she looked at him.

Those eyes burned of mistrust.

It wounded him… really it did.

"W-what does it mean by 'mutual bond of happiness'?" Uuu. Definitely a smart one. Normally they just took what they wanted and ignored the contract as nothing more then a legal stepping stone to their infinite happiness. 'Happiness' is a lot harder then people realize.

"Why that just means that you both have to be 'happy' with one by the time this whole thing ends." She still looked confused and to save her the trouble he elaborated slightly.

"Or that you both have to get along very well… like friends." Why didn't he think of wording it like that before? It had her immediately nodding in understanding. He smiled at her blatant trust. After all that was basically what she had to do, become 'friends', so he wasn't outright lying and if he just told her the truth he wouldn't have as much fun watching her progress. At any rate knowing wouldn't help her accomplish the task better and if he was to be honest telling her to make friends would probably get better results… for her.

"What is SHI?" She asked next and he knew that would be a little harder to dance around without outright lying. He rubbed his chin as he thought of the perfect way to word his answer.

"It is the most important thing to your life at any given moment." This was true and he knew it sounded like he would be after an object which wouldn't be the case at all. Again she nodded and then looked at him expectantly. So she was done with questions for now?

"Ok next order of business. Before I give you the GISHTIL I need to tell you that you have to care for this person. He will not have any papers to mark him as a citizen so it would be hard for him to get around. Now he will also have nothing when he comes here and I can hardly expect you to pay for his expenses. This is a gift after all. So I will be giving you a type of credit card. You can use it for yourself as well, this way you don't have to worry about money. Don't be afraid to have some fun." He winked at her and she frowned at him.

With a wave of his hand the ropes disappeared and Amanda slowly stood up. She rubbed her wrists and took a few steps back from him. He was happy that that was all she did. He reached into his trench coat and pulled out a small amber ball. Inside the ball was something that looked akin to a fetus or something similar. He almost giggled as he saw Amanda move closer to him to look at the ball. The look on her face was both horrified and curious. He slowly put his hand out toward Amanda and waited for her to take the ball. She was slow, again, and looked between him and the ball a few times before ever so gently taking the orb from his hand.

When she had it she looked at it closely before gulping.

"What is inside of this?" He decided to humor her and actually answer this question. He normally never answered this one but he was in a good mood.

"It's a fairy, of sorts. After this is used the fairy is freed from the amber and the person is brought here." She nodded and put the orb in her pocket. Tentatively she took a step back again.

"Now, to use that you have to put it under water. However you do that is up to you and any method will work so long as its water. Here is your credit card." He pulled out a silver piece of plastic that displayed rainbow colors as it moved in the light. She took it from his hand and put it in her other pocket.

"Now last thing before we part ways. You need to sign… in blood." She took a few steps back and he sighed.

"You don't have to cut yourself or anything the quill will automatically fill with your blood the second you touch it." He passed the quill and parchment to her and she slowly took them from his hands. She looked at him and the paper before ever so slowly writing her name across the dotted line. Once she was finished she shrieked as the quill and parchment disappeared from her hands.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you Miss. Anderson. I will send you back home now but one more thing. If you do not use the GISHTIL in three days the contract is void. Have a good day." The next thing Amanda knew she was at her front door. She briefly wondered if the whole thing had been a delusional daydream. The one way to find out was to check her pockets.

First she checked her left one and found she still had the card. Then, even though she had confirmed that had all just actually happened, she put her had in the other pocket and pulled out the ball. Quickly putting it back in her pocket she went into her house.

In the shadows Elegua laughed quietly. He was sure she would use his 'gift' after all he had done nothing in the entire conversation to dissuade the thought that her life depended on her fulfilling the contract. He even sent her back before she could ask what would happen if the contract was voided. A little jingle from a red bell on his belt startled him from his gloating. Apparently one of his projects was going to reach an end soon.

AN: The weird all capital words are supposed to be Samarian words. What they mean will be revealed as the story goes… I hope. Or I guess you could look them up. Just know that they are extremely out of context considering I know less then nothing about the language and how it works.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Kurama

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.

AN: This is a little weird… yeah I have no explanation for it. The next chapter will probably take a little longer and be shorter.

Amanda sat in her bed, on her stomach, and stared at the amber ball in her hand. It had been two days since she meet that strange man and she had still not used the GISHTIL. One of the reasons was her parents had been home and she couldn't find a good time to use it with them around. The other reason was she was slightly scared as to what would happen if she used it.

That man had indicated that if she used it a man from some other world would appear. It also sounded as if she would know who this person was. She had to admit the concept was intriguing. Yet she also wondered how he would arrive. Would he be naked, would he appear how she normally associated him, or maybe how he was presently in his own world? With that though she felt a bit of guilty, if she used this she could be potentially taking someone away while they were doing something important.

On the other hand she also had the feeling that if she didn't do it the man would come back and hurt her. After all even though the contract sounded as though she would be free from everything if she didn't used it that didn't mean the man wouldn't do something to her. He sounded like he really wanted to see what would happen

Knock, knock.

Hastily Amanda hid the ball and then yelled out.

"Yes?" Her bedroom door opened a peek and her mothers head popped into view.

"Amanda, me and your father are going to go out for awhile and we'll probably be back late. Don't wait up and for dinner… heat up the left over ziti." Amanda nodded and asked;

"About what time do you think you'll be home?" Her mother pondered the question for a minute before answering.

"At the latest 12'oclock." Her mother closed the door and Amanda listened carefully as doors around the house slammed, the front door locked, and finally the start of an engine. After a few moments the house was silent again and all she could hear was the creaking of the walls and her own breath.

She took out the amber ball again and looked at it. She liked the way it sparkled in the afternoon sun from her window. If she was going to do this, she realized, it was now or never. Her parents were out of the house and her brother was staying at a friend's tonight. Her eyes dropped when she thought of her brother. They had been so close when they were younger and now she barely saw him. It seemed like every day he was hanging out with his friends until late at night and if he was home he was always in his room on his computer.

She shook her head at those thoughts and went back to contemplating the ball. Another problem would be explaining why he was in the house when her parents got home. He would have to stay with her but she doubted she could hide him in her room the whole time. Sighing she got to her feet and decided to just go for it. Maybe it was all an elaborate scam anyway and nothing would happen.

As she left her room she put the ball in her pocket and went into the next room over. This was her brother's room and she wriggled nose in disgust at the clothes all over the floor. Luckily she had done a wash recently so she knew he had some clean clothes. In fact they were still on his bed where she left them. She grabbed a plain t-shirt and a pair of pants before looking around in her brother's draws for an unopened bag of underwear. It was embarrassing to think of but if the person did come naked she doubted they would want to borrow used underwear, clean or not.

When she found a new bag she smiled in success and ripped open the bag and added one pair to the clothes draped over her arm. Next she tried to find a pair of new socks. This time she came up empty handed and decided her guest would just have to do without that until they could go shopping. After that Amanda walked into the guest bathroom and folded the clothes nicely before placing them on the counter. As she looked around the bathroom she realized it was a mess so she quickly went about reorganizing it. As she was cleaning the mirrors she sighed and stopped. She knew she was stalling and she had to stop and get this over with. She put away the cleaning supplies and went back into the hallway and opened the closet. After looking around, not to mention having a few things fall on her, she found a suitable towel. It was brown and not one her mother would miss if anything happened to it.

She reentered the bathroom with the towel and folded it while placing it next to the clothes. Next she turned to the tub/shower. As she wasn't sure how the guy would appear she figured a shower would be the best place in any case. After all it had the most room, unless one was to use a pool that is. She didn't have one and in any case it was November. That month was a little cold for a dip in the pool. After making sure the bottom of the tub was dry, so she could make a clean getaway, she arranged a towel in a nest like formation and placed the ball on it. Then she estimated where the water would hit the tub from the shower head and moved her nest to that position.

After that was done she turned a knob so that the water came out of the shower head and not the other thing that was used when having bubble baths. Taking a beep breath, well a few, Amanda turned the knob for the cold water, she hoped, and ran out of the bathroom slamming the door behind her. The bathroom was the last door in the hall and so was near the foyer, the foyer lead to both the living room and kitchen. Amanda's little sprint brought her to the kitchen where she stopped and looked at the clock it read 4:35. Her parents had left about an hour ago. She sat quietly in the dark kitchen not daring to turn on the lights and listened to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

Her heart pounded in her chest and for fifteen whole minutes she heard nothing but the running water. After that she started getting a little antsy. If something was going to happen shouldn't it have already, she wondered. She poked her head down the hall for a moment before inching down toward the door. When she was half way there she heard a loud pop come from the bathroom. She wanted to run back to the kitchen but found her legs wouldn't listen to her. To try and comfort herself she thought;

"Maybe it was some kind of water reactive firecracker and it was all a joke." This line of thought was quickly killed when she heard a surprised yelp and then confused muttering before finally a loud bang. She had no clue what happened in the bathroom but did find she once again had control of her legs. This time she ran to the living room and hid behind a couch and tried to slow her loud breathing.

After an immeasurable amount of time she heard the bathroom door open. She tried to make her self smaller behind the couch and was distressed that her breathing became hard again. She wanted to move or run but found her self once again frozen to the spot. She heard foot steps and almost whimpered when she realized they had entered the room she was hiding in. For a long while it seemed the person just stood there and Amanda found it cruel that he would lengthen her torture so. Then he finally spoke.

"It's alright, you can come out, I won't hurt you." The voice was soft, almost kind, and one she recognized. It was Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho. At that realization her heart almost stopped and thoughts plowed though her head. The thought most prominent;

'How does he know to speak English?' He could of course know English but he was an originally Japanese character so why would he speak English. Another thought entered her head then. Just because he sounded as though he was Kurama didn't mean he was. He could still be anyone.

"I know you're behind the couch. There is no point in continuing to hide." His voice was still non-threatening, who-ever it was, and Amanda was contemplating what to do.

"If you don't come out on your own I'll get you my self." This was slightly more threatening and Amanda found herself annoyed in spite of her self. How come no one could be patient enough for her to think? She decided she had no choice though and slowly, keeping the couch between her and the man, came out.

Upon looking at him she winced when she saw a nasty bruise forming on his forehead. The loud bang she heard last must have been him falling. As for his identity he looked as though he could be Kurama though he looked much less cartoonish and much more flesh and blood. He also had a more obvious Asian look to him despite his bright red hair and green eyes.

"Thank you." He said and put on a charming smile and then stuck out his hand.

"Would you come over here?" To be honest she didn't want to. She may have found him attractive but with him being real and here well she didn't know whether he would kill her or not. She had no clue what he was really like or even if his world and life was anything like what she saw on TV. She slowly moved until she was about a foot away from him and looked down and to her side.

Vaguely she noted he was indeed wearing her brother's clothes so he had come naked. This thought led to her face heating up and she was certain she was blushing. Suddenly one of his hands wrapped around her right wrist tightly but not painfully while his other hand grabbed her chin and turned her head so that she was face to face with him. Quickly her eyes skimmed over his before landing on his bruise which she considered a safe enough place to look.

"Please, look me in the eyes?" He asked and Amanda felt her eyes water a little in fear. She knew she couldn't do that, even if she wasn't scared of him she couldn't.

"I-I can't." Her voice was so quite that she was afraid he wouldn't hear her yet he let go of her and moved to sit on one of the couches.

"How did I get here? I know you know so don't bother lying. I can tell this is your house and that it was most likely you who left these clothes for me." Amanda felt her self make a small whine but thought for a moment on how to say what happened quickly. To be honest she had thought about saying her famous 'I don't know' line but he crushed that rather quickly.

"A strange man kidnapped me and gave me this strange ball. He said it would bring someone here from another dimension but didn't tell me who." She tensed as she waited for his response and got one after a minute.

"Sou ka." So he did speak Japanese but that still didn't explain how he knew to speak English.

"Did he tell you what this ball was called?" He asked after another long minute. Amanda's answer came quicker this time;

"GISHTIL." She tripped over the word but hoped he got it anyway. His silent curse indicated that he not only got it but knew the word. When he spoke next his voice was much darker.

"In deals involving that the client always knows exactly what they are getting and want it bad enough to seal the fate of their soul." The shock of what he said stole away her fear and she found herself breathlessly say.

"My soul?" She thought over what the man had said and realized that is exactly what he meant. She wondered what other half truths he had told her to get her to agree.

"I swear I didn't know. He seemed very eager about this and I had no choice he would've killed me." She added as she crashed to the ground and though she made no sound tears streamed down her face. She heard a sigh and a shuffle of clothes before two strong arms enveloped her into a tight embrace meant to be comforting. When she tensed at his touch he loosened his hold so that he had one hand rubbing her back slowly and the other holding her left hand.

"Shh, don't cry. I believe you. I'll fix this, I'll help you." His voice was kind again and she vaguely noticed an odd scent before her body collided with a warm object and blackness over took her.

This whole thing would be very troublesome. On the bright-side he could probably get away with being gone for awhile without much notice. On the down-side he probably wouldn't have his job when he got back despite the fact that he worked for his step-father. He looked down at the girl asleep in his arms and sighed. She was asleep now thanks to some encouragement from his plants so he gently placed her on the couch. As he stepped back he took in her form now that he could do so freely. She looked very normal with dark blonde hair and baggy clothes. From what he could tell she was shy and so she obviously hid behind an unappealing appearance.

He then gave himself a quick tour of the house he was in. In his search he found three bed rooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a dining room, den, and living room as the American terms named them. There was also a basement and he couldn't help but laugh at how chaotic the house looked. It wasn't quite a mess but definitely not something you'd find in a magazine. The only room that was decent was the bathroom he had found himself in when all this started.

Thinking on that he ran his fingers over is bruise and winced in memory of what happened. When he had appeared he was standing and being hit with ice cold water. As he tried to get out he tripped on a cloth that he hadn't known was under his feet and his head collided with the toilet bowl. After a few minutes of reorienting him self he had gotten dressed and went in search of his 'host'.

He went into the kitchen and turned on the lights before going to the freezer. After searching around for awhile he found an ice pack and went back into the room with the girl. He sat down in the chair nearest her and waited for her to wake up. Hopefully she would be calmer when she woke so they could figure out what to do next. As much as this situation should be her fault he knew she wasn't lying to him. She was far to terrified for that. That being said it made him wonder what the contactor was up to… sending him here. He could actually think of a few reasons but none were something he could be sure of. As for what had to be done… he couldn't leave this girl to her fate. If what she said was true she was truly tricked and didn't deserve the fate most received when walking into these deals.

She finally woke up at around 6:30pm and, to Kurama's disappointment, she had tried to run away. After a bit of awkward tussling; Kurama got her sitting down with the help of some plants. She stared at him wide eyed but didn't fight her bonds. Her heart was pounding and Kurama was sure he would have been able to hear it even without his superb hearing. At the rate she was going he was afraid she might have a heart attack. She wasn't gagged but wasn't yelling at least he was spared that pain.

"Look, you need to calm down. If we think this through we might be able to come up a solution to this predicament." He watched her for a moment and was pleased to note that she was claming down. Experimentally he retracted the vines he was using to bind her just a little. If he had to he could always tighten them again after all. She visibly tensed and stared at him… well his bruise. Then she got very still.

This in turn made Kurama tense as her heart rate only marginally went down. For all he knew she was about to do the mamba or, more plausibly, pass out. To sum it up for you in simple words her personality was very vexing.

"I'm listening." Her voice was calmer then he thought it would be and he could tell it even surprised her. That was a good think though as freaking out has never gotten anyone anywhere.

"Good. Now first things first, what is your name… I believe you already know mine." He smiled waited patiently for her answer.

"Amanda…" She trailed off and shifted her eyes to his feet. Odd.

"Ok, Amanda, did this 'man' give you anything else… besides the GISHTIL?" Again he waited patiently.

"A credit-card… to buy stuff." Kurama nodded but then made a 'listening sound' when he remembered her eyes were on her feet. He then spent the next few minutes asking her questions about the contract she had made with this…Elegua. The name sounded familiar but only vaguely. The contract type he was familiar enough with after all it was similar, yes even in name, to ones used by gods in his world. He had even heard of this exact scenario taking place, well in that case the girl knew what she was getting into.

Then there was the fact that he came here with nothing but the skin on his bones. Briefly he wondered what Yusuke would do when he found that he was now walking next to a pile of clothes. Would he even notice the clothes?

"Ok tomorrow we'll go shopping for the things I'll need while I'm here. Shoes and such."

"And socks?" Kurama sweat-dropped, how he managed that in our world is a mystery, and replied;

"Yes… and socks." And wiggled his toes, she was still watching his feet, for emphasis. He got the response he had been looking for when the girl giggled quietly.

At this point he removed the vines but the girl didn't move. Then, to his embarrassment, his stomach growled.

"Amanda, I haven't eaten in a while…" He trailed of unsure how to ask her for food.

"Oh… ziti… mom." He sweat-dropped again and attempted to translate what she meant. Which for him wasn't that hard, after translating for Hiei most else was easy.

"Um… by that you mean there is ziti in the fridge?" He asked. She nodded and then slowly got up before bounding into the kitchen. Kurama followed her in and watched her put the pre-made dish in the oven. There were a few things that had to be done to set things right but first he'd have to… 'meet the parents'.


End file.
